Good with knives
by the things that define you
Summary: "You're not the only one whose good with knives." It had been a long time since Agent Washington had used a knife. Now in the aftermath, he remembers. Remembers what drove him to the field. Remembers the body of another dead friend laying before him. Remembers why he became good with knives.


"You're not the only one who's good with knives."

Washington stared at the four small weapons held in his hands. It had been far too long since he had used this type of weapon. Not since...not since Maine. Or was he the Meta then? What did it matter? That was the past. Idly he began to spin one of the weapons between his fingers, a habit he had picked up years ago.

The blade was sharp, smooth, well taken care of. Felix did love his knives. Letting the familiar motion calm his mind, Washington's thoughts twirled with the blade spinning in his hand.

He had picked up the habit years ago, back when he was with recovery. Those had been the first time he had ever used the weapon.

It had been a standard op, or at least at the time it had been. The Meta hit another outpost. Reds, Blues, both sides wiped out. Washington had been sent in to investigate. Why there? What had the Meta wanted?

His search of red base had shown nothing helpful. It was hard to see anything through the horrid combination of corpses, scorch marks, and blood. The security monitors were damaged beyond repair. It would be impossible to pull any logs out of them. Washing had to swallow the bile rising in his throat. In all his years as an operative he never stayed around to witness the rules of his work.

Blue base, was far more interesting.

At first it looked the same. Bodies spewed about, blood pooling out of them onto the smooth floors. Indents that looked like craters, no doubt from Meta's weapon, marked the walls. One thing made the base different. In the back of the base was a set of armor Washington recognized. The armor was a set of katana armor with a murky mix of brown and black. Washington knew whose it was before he scanned the tag.

It was Delaware. He had been reported A.W.O.L in the middle of a mission not a few months ago. That had been only a few weeks since everything had gone to hell. During the old days, Delaware had been the program's bladed weapon expert. His missions were often solo ones to underdeveloped planets where a sword would be more familiar to the inhabitants, human or not. Washington didn't have to look far to find Delaware's treasured sword. It had been the gift from a grateful chieftain. Forged from a rare metal, the blade was stronger than anything freelancer had to offer.

Now it lay shattered not a few feet from its dead owner. Apparently it wasn't stronger than the Meta. Washington looked back at Delaware's lifeless body. Dried blood now clung to a gaping hole in the ex-freelancer's stomach. Delaware always had been fascinated by Main's new weapon. The irony wasn't lost on Washington.

Unable to stare at a dead friend any longer, Washington turned around and turned on his radio.

"Yes Agent Washington?" The female voice said inside his helmet. Washington still had yet to meet the woman in person.

"I found out why the Meta came here." Somehow he kept his voice calm.

"Cut the cryptic Washington." He took a breath before responding.

"It's Delaware. His body is here, dead."

There was a pause before command replied.

"And his armor enhancement?" Washington looked at the armor scan displayed in his HUD. Delaware's armor enhancement had been overshields. It had fit perfectly with his close quarter combat styles. If the Meta got a hold of that, he would be almost invincible.

The enhancement was gone. Heaven help them. At least Delaware hadn't had an AI. That would have only made things worse.

"It's gone command. The armor was cleaned, just like the others."

"Unfortunate. Finish protocol then return to base agent Washington." The call ended, leaving the freelancer alone with the body of a friend and four others. Taking one last sweep of the room before he would activate Delaware's armors self-destruct sequence, Washington's foot kicked something, sending it spinning across the floor. Following it, Washington picked up the object. It was a knife. One of Delaware's without a doubt. The old Chinese on the hilt gave it away. On the tip of the blade was dried bits of blood. Washington knew it was the Meta's. The freelancer turned the knife in his hand. It was terribly well balanced. Without thinking, Washington clipped the weapon to his belt. He would keep it, to remember.

Solemnly, the Freelancer activated Delaware's self-destruct sequence. It was the third friend he had buried, and the third time he had prayed.

An extra loud shout of joy brought Washington back to the present. He was alone in his bunk at where they had crashed all those weeks ago. Once again he stared down at the knives in his hands.

It had only taken a few weeks to get good with Delaware's knife. Recovery three had only been allowed to brag that they were better than a freelancer at something had only lasted a month at the most. Washington sighed to himself.

He wished he still had that knife. It was gone now, buried with the Meta. Right where it's owner had first put it. Gone, along with the rest of Freelancer. Idly he threw one of the knives at a blast mark from back before the war. It sunk into the thin wall.

Delaware would have been proud.

 **Hello people of Earth (not to discriminate against those not from Earth. I welcome you equally.). I hope you enjoyed that story. I love it whenever Felix (Who is so not dead by the way) or Washington use knives. The inspiration for this one shot hit me and well here you go. Please tell me what you think in the reviews below and check out my other Red v Blue one shots and my story The North Star. If you know what that is and want another chapter for it I'm sorry, I just haven't been writing it lately. And now I'm rambling. Awesome. Anyway thanks for reading and I hope that the season 13 finale that opens to the public in 30 min exactly is amazing.**


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